Thailand in 1997

Head of government: Prime Ministers Chavalit Yongchaiyudh until November 6 and, from November 9, Chuan Leekpai

Within weeks of its election in November 1996, the six-party coalition government of Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was encountering considerable social unrest as workers, farmers, students, and businessmen noisily aired their grievances. By early 1997 a growing financial crisis, exacerbated by scandals in banking and property development, had rapidly plunged the nation into its worst recession in decades. The army had to be persuaded to accept huge cuts in military expenditure. On September 8, when opposition parties submitted a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, the government survived only after Chavalit gave way on constitutional reform. But demands for his ouster intensified, and on November 6 he resigned. Two former prime ministers, Chatichai Choonhavan and Chuan Leekpai, vied to succeed him. Chuan gathered sufficient numbers in the 393-member House of Representatives to form an eight-party coalition with a slim majority, and on November 9 King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed him prime minister.

A 99-member assembly charged with writing the new constitution began its deliberations in January. The key Drafting Committee was chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun. Despite early criticism that members were being pressured by patronage-dispensing politicians, the document, finalized in August, was much admired for measures to curb vote buying, limit corruption, inject transparency into administration, codify rights of citizens, and eliminate military influence in the Senate. Alarmed at the erosion of their powers, government politicians at first planned to reject the charter, but when the army declared itself in favour and the king intimated support, opposition evaporated, and the new constitution passed a joint sitting of the National Assembly on September 27 by 578 votes to 16. Promulgated October 11, it set a 240-day limit for the government to pass laws establishing a new legislative framework before elections.

Lagging exports, declining labour productivity, excess liquidity, and massive overinvestment in real estate triggered attacks on the baht by international currency speculators in May and June. Though at first these attacks were beaten back by the central bank, pressure continued, which led to the resignation on June 19 of Finance Minister Amnuay Viravan, an implacable foe of devaluation. Thanong Bidaya, a banker, replaced him and immediately announced help for overstretched banks and relaxed limits on foreign shareholding. But the Bank of Thailand was soon forced to suspend operations at 16 finance companies. On July 2, just two days after Prime Minister Chavalit had assured the nation that there would be no devaluation, the central bank, having lost billions of dollars defending the currency, abandoned the peg to a dollar-dominated basket of hard currencies. Within hours the baht had been effectively devalued by almost 20%. On July 29 the bank’s governor, Rerngchai Marakanond, was replaced by Chaiyawat Wibulswasdi. As negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) began, another 42 finance firms were suspended; fully half the nation’s banks and quasi banks had been put out of business. On August 11 the IMF detailed a rescue package, soon reaching $17.2 billion, that included contributions from Japan and other neighbouring countries, the Asian Development Bank, and the IMF itself. At the behest of the IMF, $2 billion was cut from the budget, fuel prices were increased, and the value-added tax was hiked from 7% to 10%. The baht, however, continued its slide. Inflation mounted and interest rates soared, even as the stock market plunged to record lows and growth of gross domestic product declined toward zero. On October 19, as a result of Chavalit’s decision to reverse the fuel-price increase, Finance Minister Thanong resigned. As the new prime minister, Chuan, began putting together a Cabinet in November, the baht had lost 37% of its value and the situation remained volatile.

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